Freitag, Februar 22, 2013

“Odinnadtsatyy” (
The Eleventh Year ) was directed by the documentary maker and film theorist
Herr Dziga Vertov in the silent year of 1928 in order to commemorate, not the
tenth but the eleventh anniversary of the October revolution ( Germans
alsovery much like to celebrate Oktober
but in a very different kind of way… ).

In Herr Vertov’s
oeuvre there is a special fondness for showing the hard labor of his countrymen
in industrial production to strengthen the U.S.S.R. economy and turning their
country into a world power. The 11tth anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution
was a perfect excuse for Herr Vertov to put in images his artistic recurring
allegories and national patriotism.

So consequently
in “Odinnadtsatyy” there are a lot of pistons, cylinders and machines that
rattle, clatter and whirl, composing a hypnotic industrial symphony that forms
part of the score of the construction and modernization of a powerful U.S.R.R..
In some ways this is very repetitive and certainly monotonous as is hard
industrial work in real life (At least according to what this Herr Von has
heard since German counts really know nothing about such a subject…).Workers are the main actors of the film and
we see them laboring in power stations, cooperatives or mines in the Ukraine,
all under the inspiring influence of Herr Lenin who is shown in one shot.Man and machine work together in a fruitful
collaboration.

“Oddinnadtsatyy”
is full of Herr Vertov’s characteristic artistic style and brilliant editing,
all in the service of shameless propaganda which has the sole purpose of
lifting the nationalism of the Soviet people, a goal that certainly is achieved
for supporters and followers of the Bolshevik cause, ja wohl!.

And now, if
you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count
must celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of his Teutonic and rich heiresses.

Freitag, Februar 15, 2013

Herr Dziga
Vertov was certainly one of the most important film directors in the history of
the U.S.S.R., an innovative director, documentary maker and film theorist who
used cinematography as the perfect vehicle for his artistic endeavors,
achievements not always fully understood or shared by either his colleagues or
the Soviet authorities.

Herr Dziga
Vertov’s film style “Kino-Glaz” ( Cinema Eye ) reflects perfectly the artistic
concerns that the Russian director had in the mid 20’s, films wherein the use
of editing is fundamental in order to put in images Herr Vertov’s film artistic
theories about the camera capturing reality.However, this is something of a contradiction because editing is in a
certain way the manipulation of reality…

“Shestaya Chast
Mira” ( One-Sixth Of The World ) (1926) was commissioned by Gostorg, an agency
of the Russian Government.Not
surprisingly, the film is a paean to the powerful possibilities of the
U.S.R.R., a big country composed of an enormous diversity of people, races and
nationalities, masters of the sixth part of the world who will put their
efforts in the service of their country to make it a world power.

Herr Vertov
shows us many industrial sequences, the exporting of Soviet goods and a
detailed ethnographical study of the many peoples that make up the Soviet
Union.It is masterful propaganda.The use of editing is certainly astonishing
and obviously fundamental for this kind of picture wherein different shots and
sequences melt together to convey a political message and an artistic study,
including fascinating camera angles and film techniques like split screens,
animation and the travelling camera.All this creates mesmerizing film collage as fascinating as the extinct
U.S.R.R. itself.

And now, if
you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count
must ask for the whole part of his inheritance from one of his Teutonic rich
heiresses.

Samstag, Februar 09, 2013

Since
Herr Georges Méliès visited the moon at the beginning of the last century,
there have been many attempts to do likewise by other directors who were
fascinated by the incredible space travel and bizarre landscapes and creatures
that Herr Méliès showed in his masterpiece.However, this was not an easy task at all, as illustrated by the story
of Herr Vasili Zhuravlyov who, because of political censorship, endured much
frustration and many delays in sending a communist manned spaceship to the moon.He finally was able to make his dream come
true in the late year of 1936 under the now extinct Stalinist U.S.S. R.

Such
a complicated space travel project is depicted powerfully in “Komicheskiy Reys:
Fantasticheskaya Novella” ( “Cosmic Journey” ), a very interesting and
inventive sci-fi film with special effects that are very different fromthose today but are still skillfully
done.

Herr Zhuravlyov does not let the
propaganda background sink his artistic intentions, certainly a task-given the
times-that may have been more difficult than actually sending someone to the
moon.

Obviously
the political background can’t be ignored in the film, so there are many
communist references in it, the most significant being that the spacecraft that
finally lands on the moon is called “Josef Stalin” and of course there is the
film’s message about the power and accomplishment of technical research in the
U.S.S.R. but this is acceptable in terms of the story.

The
art direction and space imagery of the film is certainly astounding, including
beautiful and imaginative décors and models, suggesting these supposedly
futuristic times of the, Ahem… mid 40’s of the last century.Especially remarkable is the travelling
effect wherein the two U.S.R.R. spacecrafts are shown in detail in the hangar
and of course the moon décors, showing a mysterious and deserted planet
reminiscent of l Herr Méliès .The
cosmonauts will have an extra and dangerous mission trying to send a radio
message to the Earth ( well… it is more correct to say U.S.R.R. ) in order to
let them known that finally the spacecraft has landed.There is also a big problem with the oxygen
tank but there is a light side too as we see the cosmonauts walking on the moon
(via animation), a sequence that gives the film an air of charming fantasy.

“Komicheskiy
Reys…” is a very imaginative oeuvre, a remarkable picture full of fantasy and
imaginative technical resources, an excellent example of the space race between
cinematographers.

And
now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German
Count must moon around as usual.